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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Northern Arizona’s players cut, pass and shoot, chatter filling the thin air, the coaching staff shouting out instructions.
As they sprint through a spirited summer workout, one thing stands out: These Lumberjacks are big.
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“It’s the longest and biggest team we’ve had,” Northern Arizona coach Shane Burcar said. “We’re got three or four legit big guys.”
Entering a pivotal eighth season at NAU, Burcar has opted to go big.
Burcar has shown he’s an excellent coach, a molder of young men, but he has one year left on his contract after a second one-year extension and a new athletic director in Richard Duran.
Duran has expressed support to Burcar and understands the difficult task of winning at a place like NAU, but, as with any coach in any job, there needs to be progress.
“I want our guys to win and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the pressure a little bit,” Burcar said. “We do a great job in the community, we do a great job in the classroom and we want to do better on the court. That’s just the reality. It’s really important to win here and do it the right way.”
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Northern Arizona had been on a solid trajectory, increasing its win total in four straight seasons. The Lumberjacks won 18 games in 2024-25 and played in the College Basketball Invitational, the program’s first postseason appearance in 10 years.
Expecting to build upon that success, Burcar instead watched the Lumberjacks stumble to 10-22 last season, including 4-14 in the Big Sky Conference.
Injuries were a big part of it.
Leading scorer Zack Davidson suffered a foot injury in practice after NAU’s second Big Sky Conference game and missed the final 17 games of the season. Big man Walker Timme, expected to play a big role after transferring, played eight minutes all season because of a back injury and several other players missed time.
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“It wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” Burcar said. “We just didn’t have the firepower…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/northern-arizona-shane-burcar-opts-180220213.html
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Publish date : 2026-07-09 18:02:00
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